I do a single water backflush after each session (e.g. my ritual of pulling two doubles ion weekday mornings before work or at the end of the day on weekends and holidays). There is sometimes a surprising amount of debris that comes out with the simple water backflush yet when I do a chemical backflush one each month there's a significantly greater amount crud released. I do a minimum of six water backflushes after a chemical backflush and then immediately pull a sink shot. Have been doing this since I bought the Isomac in 2001 and apart from a few minor repairs not related to the grouphead or cam it has been working flawlessly and still delivers great shots.

Stuggi wrote:
1. Wiggle and backflush
2. Just standard flush

*DING!*


Give that man a cee-gar.

Psyd wrote:*DING!*

Give that man a cee-gar.

I though it was a rhetorical question! I didn't know there was a gift...

A squeaky E61 cam is normal after a chemical flush. After 3 shots it goes away.

Water backflush does little more than wash stray grinds off the outside of the shower screen. A chemical flush will clean the oils from the screen, dispersion block/disk 3way exit path, group lever or solenoid. A chemical flushed clean machine will give you good shots all day long, provided the Barista is up to the task.

A dirty, never detergent cleaned, inside of the shower screen looks like road tar machine will produce shots that taste like they were were mixed with bile from a dead monkey no matter how good the Barista or beans were. It is as simple as that. No detergent/chemical cleaning equates to nasty a** crack tasting coffee, every time.

The underlying question is how often is often enough. Personally, I would say at least once a week. I do it every Saturday morning before my first coffee of the day and I do notice the difference in the coffee. I also chemical clean between each blend but I run a pound at a time. Now and then I will start to notice a bit of funk sneaking into the cup especially with light, floral, more delicate flavoured espresso at which time I clean it.

coffee.me wrote:Thanks, sticking it is . There goes my hope of saving some $ .

don't know what Joe Glo is going for these days but it sure lasts a LONG time. IMHO, you are saving money in the long run.

jim